American actress Minka Kelly has starred in several television series including Friday Night Lights (2006), Charlie’s Angels (2011), and The Roommate (2011). Unlike most in the show biz, she worked in the medical field for a few years before delving into the acting scene. In 2003, she made her official acting debut in the short film, The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Born on June 24, 1980 in Los Angeles, California, Minka Kelly is the only child of Rick Dufay, the former guitarist of Aerosmith. As a teen, she went to Valley High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico; ultimately it was after she had graduated that she returned to LA at the age of eighteen. From there, she was approached by a former Playboy Playmate while doing a test shoot for a modelling agency.
As it happened, Kelly was eventually placed at a surgeon’s office, who was willing to offer her breast augmentation in exchange for work. Later deciding against it, she left the position after being fired. Following her experience in the medical field, she went to school to become a certified surgeon’s assistant, after which she worked for four years as a scrub technician.
In 2003, she made her official acting debut in The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious, a six-minute long short film that served as the prelude to the movie, 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003). More work soon followed including a few guest appearances on the shows, Cracking Up (2004), Drake & Josh (2004), and American Dreams (2005). Later in 2005, she landed her first recurring role in the series, What I Like About You.
How did Minka Kelly Become Famous
The next year, Kelly received a big break after being cast in the NBC drama, Friday Night Lights. Based on a book written by H.G. Bissinger, it entered around a high school football team in the fictitious town of Dillon, Texas. A member of the ensemble cast, Kelly played as Lyla Garrity, the girlfriend of star quarterback, Jason Street (played by Scott Porter). Other actors in the show include Kyle Chandler, Gaius Charles, Zach Gilford, Connie Britton and Adrianne Palicki.
Premiered on October 3, 2006, Friday Night Lights drew in an average of 6 million viewers each for the first two seasons. Kelly’s first major role on television, it garnered her a Gold Derby TV Award nomination for Ensemble of the Year which she shared with the rest of her cast mates. To this day, the NBC series remains to be one of the greatest highlights of her career.
Minka Kelly’s Other Television Appearances
After a few roles in Body Politic (2009), Parenthood (2010), and Entourage (2010), she starred as one of the protagonists in the ABC crime drama, Charlie’s Angels (2011). A modern reboot of the original 1976 series, it premiered on September 22, 2011. Despite the efforts put in by the cast however, reviews were mostly negative; it was later cancelled after just eight episodes.
Then in 2013, she landed a lead role in the science fiction series, Almost Human which aired on Fox. Created by J.H. Wyman, it centred around a human detective who partners up with an android in order to protect and serve the city. In the series, Kelly played as Detective Valerie Stahl, the love interest of main character, John Kennex (played by Karl Urban).
Considerably popular, the series premiere attracted over 9 million viewers in the United States. Due to low viewership in the subsequent episode however, it was later cancelled by Fox after one season.
Since then, the actress has appeared in three other series: Man Seeking Woman (2015), The Path (2016), and Jane the Virgin (2017).
Minka Kelly’s Love Life
Although it’s not confirmed, rumour has it that the actress has recently started to date fellow actor, Jesse Williams.
Previously, she was in a relationship with Derek Jeter from 2008 to 2011. Some of the other individuals whom she’s been romantically linked to include Sean Penn, Ramon Rodriguez, Wilmer Valderrama, Topher Grace, and Derek Jester.
Minka Kelly on Film
Aside from television, she’s also appeared in several movies over the years. For instance in 2011, she starred in the psychological thriller, The Roomate– a box office hit that went on to earn over $40.4 million worldwide. Directed by Christian E. Christiansen, it starred Kelly as Sara- a college freshman who after arriving on campus realizes that her roommate is dangerously obsessed with her. Her portrayal in the film later earned her an MTV Movie Award nomination and a Teen Choice Award nomination.
That same year, she also played the female lead in the 2011 independent film, Searching for Sonny opposite of actor, Jason Dohring. Released in theatres on October 22, 2011, its cast also included Masi Oka, Michael Hogan, Brad She, and Clarke Peters. Met with many positive reviews, the movie eventually won several awards at various film festivals.
Some of the other films that Kelly has appeared in since include The Butler (2013), The World Made Straight (2014), Papa: Hemingway in Cuba (2015), and Away and Back (2015).
Later this year, she will also be making an appearance- albeit a minor one, in the upcoming film, Nomis, a psychological thriller starring Henry Cavill and Alexandra Daddario.
Minka Kelly Snapchat Name – minkaminks
Last January, the actress announced via Instagram that she had joined one of the latest fads- Snapchat. If you want to add Minka Kelly to you friend list, you can do so by clicking here.
Minka Kelly’s Other Social Media Accounts
Minka Kelly’s Facebook Account
If you want to follow the actress on Facebook, you can do so by liking her official page at @MinkaKelly- it looks like she already has close to 300K fans on the site!
Minka Kelly’s Twitter Account
Want to stay up to date with the star? You can easily do so by following her over on Twitter at @minkakelly.
Minka Kelly’s Instagram Account
Interested in seeing some of her photos? You can view them over at her official Instagram account at @minkakelly, where she already has over 378K followers!
Minka Kelly’s Youtube Account
From what we can tell, the 37-year-old celebrity has not yet joined Youtube. Stay tuned, we’ll let you know as soon as she creates a channel on the site.
